| There are so many parenting theories available that | | | | works both for the short-term but more importantly, |
| try and provide good parenting advice. Ultimately the | | | | what is going to work for the long-term. That is where |
| goal is to be an effective and practical parent. I am | | | | solutions-focused parenting is an extremely powerful |
| going to give you some suggestions on how to | | | | and successful method of discipline. |
| become a more effective parent without all the theory | | | | What Does Solution-Focused Mean? |
| - just getting down to the basics. | | | | It is rather self-explanatory - you focus on finding |
| Focus on Solutions, Not Punishments | | | | solutions to the behaviors instead of punishing the child |
| We have so many words for punishment and often | | | | for their actions. For example, if a child is coloring on |
| we create new ones when the old ones start to be | | | | the table instead of a piece of paper. The logical |
| revealed as a veiled attempt to disguise the word | | | | consequence would often be to have them scrub the |
| punishment. The most popular word that avoids | | | | table and have to stop coloring. That isn't all bad, but it |
| 'punishment' is consequences. | | | | doesn't help the child do better next time. |
| Consequences just means the end effect of our | | | | Solution-Focused would have you working with the |
| behavior. The consequence could be good or bad, but | | | | child on ways to make sure that they don't make the |
| it is the result of our behavior. For years, there has | | | | same mistake again. Work on strategies that help be |
| been a real push on using logical consequences. | | | | succeed, like placing newspaper on the table first, or |
| Logical consequences are really just a way of saying | | | | making sure they are not coloring in front of the TV |
| punishments that make sense to the offense | | | | where they get easily distracted. Either way, the focus |
| A Better Way - Solutions instead of Punishments | | | | is on finding solutions to the behavior. |
| To be an effective parent, you need to find out what | | | | |